


My Teacher Is Diana Fowley

by PostApocolypticAlien



Series: ABIF Series [2]
Category: The X-Files
Genre: ABIF prompt, Gen, RichVAman, emily au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:08:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24663616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PostApocolypticAlien/pseuds/PostApocolypticAlien
Summary: RichVAman sent me a prompt about Diana Fowley being Emily's teacher in Elementary school and Scully not being particularly happy about that.
Relationships: Fox Mulder/Dana Scully
Series: ABIF Series [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1766878
Comments: 1
Kudos: 27





	My Teacher Is Diana Fowley

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to send me abif prompts either on here or Tumblr - @whats-a-mulder. If I can fit it into that universe, I will.

The afternoon had turned into a disaster. Arthur wouldn’t eat, wouldn’t sleep. The only thing he wanted to do was wail.

Scully was trying everything to calm him down; rocking him, bouncing him, putting him down, picking him up. Nothing seemed to work.

Arthur had proven to be a lot more difficult than Emily. She was a perfect little baby in comparison.

Between trying to study and tend to her son’s needs, the clock at ticked and time, regrettably, became less of a priority.

Arthur had just settled in the downstairs crib because he refused to settle elsewhere. Scully had finally gotten him to eat, finally gotten him to sleep when the phone rang and the wails began all over again.

A trail of profanities slipping from her mouth, she leaves Arthur- telling him she’ll be right back and heads for the phone.

“Hello,” she answers trying to keep her voice as calm and neutral as possible. Really wants to find out who just disturbed her baby.

“Hi,” says a woman who Scully guesses is not older than herself. “It’s just Emily’s school calling. We were wondering what time somebody was going to pick her up. She’s been sat on the bench…”

Fuck.

The receptionist’s words trail off as Scully looks towards the clock. 3:52. _She_ was supposed to pick Emily up.

“Mrs Mulder. Are you there?” The woman’s voice calls her back.

“Yes, sorry. Um…her father will pick her up.”

“Thank you. We’ll let Emily know.”

They say they’re goodbyes and Scully puts down the phone. She’s forgotten how many times she’s got distracted and forgot to pick Emily up from school.

It used to be Mulder’s job. A morning person naturally, Mulder usually requested the morning shift at work but after an incident happened, his bar duties were taken away and his hours changed to afternoon or night shifts leaving Scully to feel like she had to do everything on her own until dinner time.

“Mamaaaaaaa!” the one-year-old screams and Scully sighs. Picking up the phone and dialling Mulder’s workplace.

As it rings, Scully calls back to Arthur.

“I’ll be back in a minute, baby.”

But Arthur doesn’t understand.

.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.

He places the glass, now dry, onto the rack. They have him in the back, washing and drying dishes on a smaller pay check, all because he stopped some man from assaulting some poor woman.

He’s still surprised he was punished for that. Guess the safety of their costumers isn’t a priority here.

He picks up another glass, gives it a half-assed dry, and puts down on the rack with the others.

“Oi, Mulder!”

Mulder looks towards the back door that leads to the staff’s lunchroom. John stands in the doorway, a phone receiver in his hand, holding it towards Mulder.

“It’s your missus.”

Mulder frowns, tossing the towel down and walking towards the phone. It wasn’t like Scully to ring him in the middle of the day.

“Scully, what’s up?” he asks once the receiver is to his ear.

_I need you to pick up Emily from school_ , her voice on the other end tells him.

It was almost 4pm. Emily should’ve been picked up 25 minutes ago. What has Scully been doing?

“I can’t,” he tells her. “I’m at work.” She knows that, of course, she rang here.

_I know but Arthur’s been a nightmare all afternoon and I hadn’t looked at the clock and the school rang me and I’ve only just got him settled downstairs, and I need to study for the tests on Friday…_

She was getting flustered. His new hours were taking a toll on both of them.

“Scully, it’s okay,” Mulder says, attempting to calm her down. “Is your mother around?”

_She’s out of town visiting Bill Jr._

His own parents had moved out of state, Samantha was god knows where. It was really down to them now.

Mulder sighs. If Scully had been having issues with Arthur all day- which he doesn’t doubt she has- and she’s just got him settled, moving him would just start it all up again and he was ten minutes away versus her thirty minutes.

“Okay,” he says. “I’ll see if I can go on break early.”

_Thank you_ , Scully says. Then adds _. I’m sorry._

“Hey, don’t be. You’re doing better than most.”

Frankie isn’t happy that Mulder needs to go. He’s huffing and puffing even after Mulder tells him that it’s his daughter.

“You’ve got thirty minutes,” Frankie says, effectively telling Mulder to piss off. “I don’t want to hear your excuses.”

_They’re not excuses_ , Mulder grumpily thinks as he grabs his jacket and leaves. _She’s my kid._

.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.

She’s organising the exercise books into alphabetical order. Something to do while she waits rather than a need to.

“Does this happen often, Emily?” her teacher asks. She was new, only having taken on her class last Monday while her original teacher went off to have a baby. So far Emily liked her. Most kids have to sit in reception until their parents come and get them but Miss Fowley had saw her and took her back to the classroom.

Emily shakes her head. “Not really.”

Her mom was usually good at managing time, being ready at the gate for her, usually accompanied by a crying Arthur.

“Well, it happened a bit when I was in second grade,” Emily tells her, placing the last book on the shelf. “But only because they were in college then and sometimes they would be learning when school finished.”

Tuesday was the day, Emily remembers. That would be the day where she knew she had to sit in reception while a free family member came and picked her up. Usually it was Grandma or Nana Teena but sometimes it would be Sam though she never looked happy about it.

Emily would sit hearing the staff talk. Feeling small and clutching onto her bookbag while she would hear them say things like ‘This is why teenagers shouldn’t have kids’ and they were ‘irresponsible’.

She never thought about her parents age until last year when her best friend Callum had asked her how old her mom was and Emily said she was twenty-three. Her teacher said she wasn’t allowed to talk about her mother’s age after that.

“Don’t you feel forgotten, sometimes?” Miss Fowley asks.

It’s just a question, Emily tells herself and she shakes her head.

“I have a little brother. He’s only one and he’s a hand-full.”

Miss Fowley seems surprised at that.

“Wow. You are a big sister.”

Emily smiles awkwardly. After the incident last year, Emily made it a goal to not talk about her family- her parents ages or the gap between her and her brother.

“Well,” says Miss Fowley. “You’re dad will be here soon.”

Emily smiles in response, starting to feel forgotten after all.

.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.

He knocks on the classroom door of room 4E. Through the little rectangular window he can see Emily talking to, what he assumes, must be her teacher. The teacher turns around and Mulder feels his stomach drop.

Jesus fucking Christ, no.

Diana Fowley. Diana fucking Fowley walks towards the door. Diana fucking Fowley is his daughter’s teacher.

How the fuck did that happen?

Does she know? Surely she must know. Emily has their surname, she’s probably seen Emily’s file, saw **FOX MULDER** and **DANA SCULLY** listed under ‘father’ and ‘mother’. Of course she knows.

The door swings open and Mulder keeps his eyes averted.

“Hi,” Diana says, her voice warm and friendly. Oh she knows.

“I’m here to pick up Emily,” Mulder says choosing to focus behind Diana and at his daughter. Emily is picking up her backpack from the floor.

“You ready?” he asks Emily wanting nothing more to leave and not have an awkward conversation with Diana.

“I’ve been ready since 3:35,” Emily answers coolly.

Mulder smiles guiltily in response.

“Emily was telling me about her little brother,” Diana says looking and smiling at Emily. Mulder looks at Diana then but that had been a mistake as her eyes move so they’re both looking at each other at the same time. No looking away now.

“I didn’t know you had another kid, Fox.”

Emily eyebrow shoots right up at the mention of Mulder’s first name. Mulder’s eyes flick towards his daughter and Jesus Christ kid, don’t choose this moment now to look like Scully.

“Er, yeah…” Mulder says his eyes darting back to Diana. “Um…he’s called Arthur. He’s one.” Mulder swallows. He should leave. He only has 30 minutes before he loses his job. He really has to go and surely Diana has a home to go to as well.

“Emily mentioned. Well, I’m Miss Fowley,” Diana says as if Mulder didn’t know that. Oh, he knew that. “I’m Emily’s new teacher.” She holds her hand out.

Mulder doesn’t bother to ask what’s meant by ‘new teacher’ he can ask Emily about it in the car while he also asks her why she didn’t think to give him a heads up before this.

Mulder takes her hand, shaking it in a pitiful handshake.

“Well, it was nice to meet you,” he says ignoring the way Diana looks at him. “I’ve wasted your time already, we should really go.” He drops Diana’s hand, taking Emily’s and heads down the corridor. Diana shouts something like _See you tomorrow, Emily!_ but Mulder ignores it.

Once in the car does he feel like he can breathe. Diana Fowley. Why is she here? She said he was moving to Washington DC. Why is she here?

And why is she Emily’s teacher?

“Do you know Miss Fowley?”

Mulder turns to Emily who has spent the last five minutes staring at him.

“What?”

“She called you Fox,” Emily says. “Mom doesn’t even called you that.”

Mulder puts the car in ignition.

“Yeah, I know her. We went to school together.”

Emily hums and Mulder knows she has more question.

“Go ahead, Em,” he says preparing himself for Twenty-Questions. “Ask.”

“It doesn’t seem like you like her.”

“It’s complicated.”

“How?”

Mulder sighs.

“You said I could ask,” Emily says.

Yes, he did. And Emily deserves answers.

“You ever see kids be picked on in school, Em?”

He looks over to her, sees her nod her head.

“Well, sometimes that can carry on past Elementary school. Sometimes those kids don’t grow up, sometimes they still be those same people they were then.”

“Did she pick on you?”

No, Diana didn’t. He was too busy getting his ass beaten by the boys to also become a victim of the girl’s too.

“No. She picked on your Mom, though.”

Emily looks surprised at that. “Really?” she asks.

Mulder nods.

“Why?”

“Well, she was smarter than them. They didn’t like that. It showed them up.”

“Them?”

Mulder smiles. “Bullies come in packs, Emi,” he says. “Three, four against one.”

A Bully is never on their own.

“I never noticed that,” Emily says. “But she’s a teacher now. Doesn’t that mean she has grew up?”

“Probably,” Mulder says. “But these things stay with you. They effect you even when you’re older, too.”

And hopefully you never have to experience that.

.:.:.:.:.:.:.

She at the door with hugs and a string of I’m sorry’s falling out of her mouth.

“It’s okay,” says Emily moving out of Scully’s embrace to put her bag down. “Dad told me about Arthur and about your test.”

The test she’s about to flunk because her drain doesn’t want to retain information anymore.

“I have a new teacher,” Emily tells her.

“Really, who is she?” Scully asks as she starts clearing the textbooks from the coffee table.

“Diana Fowley.”

_That_ was not a name Scully was expecting to hear.

.:.:.:.:.:.:.

“Why is Diana Fowley teaching our daughter?”

Mulder just wanted a sip of orange juice. The bottle almost to his mouth before Scully appears in the doorway.

“And you better use a glass for that, too.”

Mulder groans. It’s his orange juice. He doesn’t remember agreeing to sharing it with the kids. But he goes into the cupboard and grabs a glass anyway.

“I wondered the same thing,” Mulder answers, pouring the drink into the glass.

“Have you seen her?”

Mulder nods. “Seen her, spoke to her-“

“Why did you speak to her?”

Mulder looks at her. “Because Emily was waiting in the classroom.”

“She normally waits in reception.”

He puts the juice back into the fridge. “Yeah well, Diana sees herself as Emily’s saviour.”

Scully tenses. “Why?”

“Emily told me that Diana asked her if she felt _forgotten_ when nobody picked her up on time.”

“What did Emily say?”

“That she understands why.”

It broke his heart a little to know somebody asked Emily that and Emily’s reply to. Emi tried so hard at being perfected, understanding situations meanwhile the kid can’t even rely on somebody to pick her up from school on time.

“I’m gonna quit the bar job,” Mulder says.

There’s panic in Scully’s eyes. “What? No, you can’t.”

“They keep fucking me over there.”

“It’s our only income.”

“I’ll find another job. One where the hours are better and I can pick Emily up from school on time.”

“Your hours were fine before you decided to be a hero.”

Apparently everyone’s under the impression he should have let that girl be assaulted.

“What if that girl was Emily?” he asks and watches as Scully falters. “Would you think I was being a hero then?”

No answer.

“That place stinks anyway,” he adds.

“Will they let you quit?”

They wanted to get rid of him from the start.

“Oh yeah,” Mulder says, certain.

Scully sighs. “Fine.”

Mulder cocks his head to the side knowing that the whole Diana Fowley thing was still eating Scully up.

“Hey,” he says grabbing her attention. “Don’t worry about Diana. Emily said she was only taking over while her original teacher is on maternity leave. I think this is just a placement.”

Mulder hoped it was just a placement. He didn’t look forward to teacher-parent conferences anyway before that teacher became Diana Fowley.


End file.
